Israel live-tweets assault on Gaza, provides video of assassination

Israel launched a major assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip today—and the Israeli military tweeted much of the action, including the assassination of a Hamas military leader.

It seems like an unusual tactic for a nation to flood Twitter with details of a military campaign while it’s happening. But perhaps it will become more common, as militaries seek the public’s support of their actions by using social media to communicate directly with the citizens of the Internet.

The tweets from @IDFSpokesperson, the official feed of the Israel Defense Forces, announced 12 hours ago "The IDF has begun a widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in the #Gaza Strip, chief among them #Hamas & Islamic Jihad targets." Dozens more tweets followed, including one announcing the assassination of Ahmed Jabari, the head of Hamas’s military wing:

This was followed up with video proof of the killing. "In case you missed it - VIDEO - IDF Pinpoint Strike on Ahmed Jabari, Head of #HamasMilitary Wing," the IDF tweeted along with this 10-second clip of a car being blown up:

IDF Pinpoint Strike on Ahmed Jabari, Head of Hamas Military Wing

UPDATE: The video was removed for violating YouTube's Terms of Service, but is working again as of the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 15.

The IDF, which also announced the assassination in a press release, said it targeted about 100 terror sites during the operation. The descriptions of its assault were accompanied by the reasons Israel believes military action is necessary. "Hamas is terrorizing Israeli civilians - over 760 rockets fired from Gaza hit Israel in 2012 alone," one tweet said. Another IDF tweet quoted a Hamas cleric as saying "Annihilation of the Jews here in Palestine is one of the most splendid blessings for Palestine."

The IDF continued its public relations campaign with similar posts on its Facebook page. Hamas's military wing (known as the Al Qassam Brigades) is also providing narration and commentary on today's events on its own Twitter feed, saying it "mourns the death of its top leader Ahmed Jabari who has been assassinated by #Israeli drones in #Gaza."

"#Israel's military still targeting civilians in #Gaza kills a child and fourty others #hamas #GazaUnderAttack #Egypt," another Hamas tweet stated. Hamas detailed its own retaliations, including rocket strikes on an Israeli military base. In a tweet directed at the official IDF Twitter feed, Hamas warned "Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves)."

AllthingsD looked into whether any of these tweets violate Twitter or Facebook terms of service, including rules against threats of violence. Facebook told AllthingsD that it "will not be taking action on the current content posted," and Twitter hadn't weighed in yet.

Israel began its occupation of the Gaza Strip, home to 1.7 million Palestinians, in 1967. Israel pulled out of the territory in 2005, but it launched a war in the strip in December 2008 and continued a blockade of the region. Today's assault was one of the biggest launched against Gaza in the past four years.

Israel can use all of the positive PR they can get these days. I can't imagine would it would be like to live in constant fear and very real attacks by paramilitary terrorists dedicated to the destruction of your entire race and religion. Too many in the US seem to blame the Israelis for taking proactive action to ensure their own survival.

Once the religious people are done killing each other, I guess the rest of the world will live in peace.

Israel is a secular state. Hamas is a religious organization whose stated aim is the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate over the land of land, and whose charter calls for the murder of all Jews everywhere. (Yes Jews, not Israelis).

Honestly, it's extremely easy to sit back and criticize Israel. Assassination is murder - true... But try to put your (comfy) self in their shoes. You can't really blame them. The USA would NEVER stand for this amount of constant terrorism barrage.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong - just try and understand the lives these people live. I've worked over there on multiple occasions and have sat in a bomb shelter waiting for the mortar fire to stop. We, as Americans, are a pretty isolated people.

Israel can use all of the positive PR they can get these days. I can't imagine would it would be like to live in constant fear and very real attacks by paramilitary terrorists dedicated to the destruction of your entire race and religion. Too many in the US seem to blame the Israelis for taking proactive action to ensure their own survival.

With the exception of the 2008 war, Israel has barely responded to the rockets and mortars fired at it almost daily since 2001. No other civilized country would allow their population to be bombed and terrorized the way Israel has. Imagine how the US would respond to a couple of rockets fired from Cuba...That's hardly called being proactive.

If you ever wanted a story whose comments would let people show where they stand on the issue, this is probably as close as you'll get.

They are both insane. But if we had a scale to see who is just "insane" and "batshit insane" i think Hamas is the latter.

Have you ever heard Jews talk about Israel? the guys actually believe it's Holy land. They say things like "you have to come see this place, this is the most holy place in the world" and what not. So they are not as "modern" as they appear.

And as far as the other side goes, It's even worse IMO. The jews would probably settle with a two state solution, but not Palestine, they want them not just gone, but dead.

Once the religious people are done killing each other, I guess the rest of the world will live in peace.

Israel is a secular state.

I only sort of agree with this portion of your comment. Key areas of Israeli policy (most especially "settlements") were hijacked by certain Jewish ultra-orthodox groups. It's always hard to answer the question "how would things have turned out differently if...", so I won't go there. But it's clearly fictional to claim that there's no religious extremist element to Israel's side of the equation.

There are some things Israel does that I think are wrong, bad for peace, and even bad for the long term interests of Israel itself. Settlements are the biggest example of that.

However I don't see anything wrong with killing Hamas commanders after a series of rocket attacks by Hamas. That's how war works. Israel has not worked hard enough for peace in my opinion, but Hamas has actively worked against peace and deserves what they get as a consequence.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong - just try and understand the lives these people live. I've worked over there on multiple occasions and have sat in a bomb shelter waiting for the mortar fire to stop. We, as Americans, are a pretty isolated people.

This sort of stuff just breaks my heart. It's deeply hurtful to know that this is the world we are leaving for our children...this is our legacy. There is no such thing as justified preemptive action...that is just aggression. Israel is wrong. Hamas is wrong.

Anyone in this forum that justifies the murder of people on either side of this...is wrong...

In 2000 years of civilization, we've only learned to kill ourselves and others..

That's no contradiction. Just as there are many people who consider themselves to be secular Jews or even "Jewish atheists"

Very different. State policy is heavily affected by religion and gives preference to people based on religion. There are many examples, but the Law of Return and military conscription rules (ultra-Orthodox Jews being exempt from service) are a couple. Favoritism in Israel also exerts itself along religious lines in unofficial ways through government funding (e.g. Jewish school districts getting more funding than Israeli Arab ones).

It's not Shariah law, but it's not secular government in the way we practice it in the US. (not that we're perfect here, mind you).

Once the religious people are done killing each other, I guess the rest of the world will live in peace.

Israel is a secular state. Hamas is a religious organization whose stated aim is the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate over the land of land, and whose charter calls for the murder of all Jews everywhere. (Yes Jews, not Israelis).

Honestly, it's extremely easy to sit back and criticize Israel. Assassination is murder - true... But try to put your (comfy) self in their shoes. You can't really blame them. The USA would NEVER stand for this amount of constant terrorism barrage.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong - just try and understand the lives these people live. I've worked over there on multiple occasions and have sat in a bomb shelter waiting for the mortar fire to stop. We, as Americans, are a pretty isolated people.

Israel is as much of a terrorist state as Hamas is a terrorist organisation. Your anecdote would work the other way around, too, if you were amongst the thousands of people that Israel illegal expansion is displacing.

It's one thing to start flaming each other in public on Twitter, but it's a whole different world to actually kill the people you are @ replying to... What has this world come to when real life is just another multiplayer live chat Halo session? When will they start tweeting "BOOM Headshot!" in real-time? The lack of humanity is just surreal.

Israel should be aware of the fact that if they ignite a conflict in the region, the American people don't really have the stomach for another war right now, nor is the country exactly united behing Israel. I'm also not sure we or Europe could afford a major war. At best, we're a reluctant ally. At worst, we're reassessing who our friends and enemies are in the region.

In other words, if you start a war with Iran, you're on your own. We have bigger problems to deal with, and a major war doesn't help us with those.

Can you get any more ghoulish ? These guys rejoice in death and misery. And think assassination is good PR.

How is this different from the jubilation in the US when Bin Laden was taken out?

Hamas is a paramilitary terrorist organization masquerading as a political party and has repeatedly attacked Israel. Their charter reads like a KKK publication, calling for the obliteration of Israel and death to the Jewish people. I don't see how they are any more legitimate than Al-Qaeda.

Honestly, it's extremely easy to sit back and criticize Israel. Assassination is murder - true... But try to put your (comfy) self in their shoes. You can't really blame them. The USA would NEVER stand for this amount of constant terrorism barrage.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong - just try and understand the lives these people live. I've worked over there on multiple occasions and have sat in a bomb shelter waiting for the mortar fire to stop. We, as Americans, are a pretty isolated people.

Israel is as much of a terrorist state as Hamas is a terrorist organisation. Your anecdote would work the other way around, too, if you were amongst the thousands of people that Israel illegal expansion is displacing.

This is just low-class? Since when did America directly intervene on Israel's side in a conflict? 1948? The Suez crisis? 1967? 1973? 1982?

Israel has always had to fight its own battles, which is why it's right to kill the military head of a vicious terrorist group bent on its destruction. It's not about igniting a conflict in the region, that conflict has been ongoing ever since the creation of Israel, it's about Israel's survival within it. If Israel's enemies laid down their weapons there would be peace. If Israel laid down its weapons then every Jew there would be slaughtered or driven into the sea.

It's not a "multiplayer game session" either. The whole social media and video bit is Israel is showing those who would destroy it that no terrorist leader is safe from its reach and therefore encouraging such people to moderate their actions. They can not send mortars - or kids - into Israel to kill Israeli's without suffering the consequences themselves. It is the terrorists who "rejoice in death and misery", Israel is simply taking action to prevent its citizens' suffering such death and misery at the hands of others.

That's no contradiction. Just as there are many people who consider themselves to be secular Jews or even "Jewish atheists"

Very different. State policy is heavily affected by religion and gives preference to people based on religion. There are many examples, but the Law of Return and military conscription rules (ultra-Orthodox Jews being exempt from service) are a couple. Favoritism in Israel also exerts itself along religious lines in unofficial ways through government funding (e.g. Jewish school districts getting more funding than Israeli Arab ones).

It's not Shariah law, but it's not secular government in the way we practice it in the US. (not that we're perfect here, mind you).

In any civilized country including the US there are large discrepencies between the amount of money going to various groups. In the US for example, schools that enrol 90 percent or more non-white students spends $733 less per pupil per year than schools that enroll 90 percent or more white students. You can also look at countries like Australia where the gap between spending on white vs. indigenous Australians is even greater.In Israel, the funding for Arab-Israeli schools is proportionately higher than for Jews. Arabs receive 25% of the education budget while they make up only 18% of the population.

I'm not quite sure what your claim is concerning the army. Orthodox Jews get exceptions, as do Arabs, while secular Jews don't. Clearly the deciding factor is not whether one is Jewish or not.

Israeli law is based on the same Judeo-Christian traditions as US law.